Assessing long-term impacts of conditional cash transfers on children and young adults in rural Nicaragua

While there is evidence on the positive short-term impacts of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes on education, health and poverty reduction, little is known about their long-term effects. This research by Tania Barham, Karen Macours, John A Maluccio, Ferdinando Regalia, Veronica Aguilera andMiriam Enoe Moncada studies the impacts of Red de Protección Social (Social protection network or RPS), a CCT programme targeting rural households in impoverished regions in Nicaragua from 2000 to 2005. 

RPS involved two household-level transfers: for health and nutrition and for educating school-age children. The results show that CCTs can lead to gains in human capital accumulation that last beyond the life of the programme, suggesting they have potential to lead to long-term poverty reduction.